If you are new to the forums, you must register a free account before you can post. The forums have a separate registration from the rest of www.chronofhorse.com, so your log in information for one will not automatically work for the other. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Chronicle of the Horse.

Helmet Acne ??

I have a young girl at the barn with acne on her forehead so bad I thought it was chicken pox. The rest of her face is clear so the forehead thing got me wondering if her helmet was contributing to the problem. So now I am wondering , has anyone else noticed this type of thing, what can be done to help ? is there something to spray or clean the helmet lining maybe ? I have never seen this on other kids before but just cant think of any other reason her forehead would be so enflamed.. any suggestions?? She is 12 or 13-ish

Ugh... I feel her pain as I have dealt with this for some time as well. So far I've found the face cleaner wipes help a lot. I use the one's for sensitive skin as the ones for acne just seem to make my skin angrier. I'll use them after I groom before I put my helmet on and after my ride. I tried the antibiotic route which worked really awesome but caused a whole bunch of other problems and in turn led to an antibiotic resistant strain of staph infecting my skin. Taking a daily vitamin with probiotics has helped me some.

As far as the helmet goes I've looked high and low and I can not find the antibacterial febreeze in my area although I would love to give it a try. I keep my helmet hanging out in the air so it can dry as much as possible. I've thought about lysol for it but I'm scared of putting that stuff near my skin. I used panty-liners in my old helmet over my forehead which I guess helped. My new helmet has the silver in it that's supposed to ward off bacteria but I don't know how long that lasts. Good luck!

You can buy witch hazel wipes in packets which would really be handy at the barn. To clear up acne neosporsin works great; reduces scaring too. I was wondering if a thin head band under the helmet would help.

As far as neosporin goes a word of warning. My doctors informed me, especially for acne, to stay away from it as it will kill all the good bacteria as well as the bad. If you take away the bad bacteria's competition and it mutates and takes off watch out

I keep a package of Pond's face cleaning cloths in my tack trunk to clean the sweat and dust off my face after riding. Helped a lot, and also feels great in the summer. Might also help for her to wash her helmet pads weekly (if they're the kind you can remove). Those things can get gunky in a hurry, especially if you wear makeup.

Just make sure the liners are cleaned with something that leaves no residue and put a barrier between the forehead and the liner. This is why many pro atheletes wear that ridiculous bandana around their heads - both men and women - it keeps the liner from grinding sweat back into the forehead and giving the person that acne, it hurts, been there, done that when I wore a lid for several hours a day.

When I worked at a tack shop we sold these. They are basically pantiliners for your helmet!
I never had a problem, but I knew many riders with acne problems on their forheads and they seemed to help. They work good for sweat in your eyes too.